Quakers were a significant group in the population of the Carolinas from the late 1600s through the 1700s, and an early governor of the Carolinas was a Quaker. A number of meetings were established in North Carolina, while in South Carolina there were sizeable meetings in Charleston, Camden, and Newberry.
Category: History
Wateree Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
This meeting was laid down (disbanded) many years ago, but is of historic significance.
Camden, South Carolina was the sight of the Wateree Meeting and has a Quaker cemetery. A marker in the cemetery shows the location of the meeting house. There are a number of Quaker graves, nameless in the early tradition of Friends.
Camden's legend of the Catawba chief Haiglar who helped the Quaker settlers in 1753, is commemorated with a life-sized weather vane. The original is housed in the Camden Archives and Museum at 1314 Broad Street, (803)-425-6050, and a replica stands atop a store on Broad Street. The Archives is a popular stop for genealogical researchers.
Hurl Rock Park
John and William Bertram were early travelers in the Southeast and in South Carolina. They named Hurl Rock, where Hurl Rock Park is now located on 21st Avenue South at Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach. This is an unusual outcropping of black rock in an otherwise sandy county. A plaque commemorating the Bartrams stands in the parking lot.
Richard Bertram, the grandfather of John, had come to America with William Penn at the close of the 17th Century. These adventurous naturalists had Quaker roots, but were read out of meeting (excommunicated) in 1755 due to their “Independent religious views.” Bartram’s Gardens, an arboretum in Philadelphia on Elmwood Avenue West of 54th Street remains, displaying many unique plant specimens collected on the tours this father and son team made into our region.
More on Bartram’s Travels to NC and SC
Bartram’s Garderns in PhiladelphiaHurl Rock Park is at 21st Avenue South and Ocean Boulevard (SC 73).